Think about the kind of work tools you want to have available for staff members to use in an emergency.

 

During the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, the gunman chained the three main entrance doors to a classroom building shut. According to news reports, it took police nearly five minutes to gain entry to the barricaded building.

 

That fact made an impression on Jack Mayoros, director of security at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, CT. Mayoros now keeps a pair of bolt cutters mounted on the wall in the hospital’s security center, he said.

 

“It’s a reminder to be prepared. We may never use them, but the symbol is there. It’s lessons learned. Try not to make the same mistakes,” Mayoros said.

 

By the way, this week’s tip comes from Healthcare Security Alert, available exclusively online to Hospital Safety Center subscribers. To read this feature, just log on from this page and scroll down to “Healthcare Security Alert” in the left column.